The present invention relates to nonlocking, nestable containers, and more particularly to nonlocking, plastic, nestable containers for soft bruisable farm commodities, such as tomatoes, peaches, pears, etc..
Presently, soft bruisable fruits are placed in wooden baskets when they are picked, and the baskets are loaded into wagons, where the baskets are stacked on top of each other, and the wagons are hauled to the processing plant. The containers with which we are concerned may have various height to diameter ratios; but because of the necessity of stacking the baskets, the proportion with which we are most particularly concerned is one wherein the height slightly exceeds the diameter, and such containers are conventionally called hampers. Hampers usually have tapered sides so that the bottoms are approximately one half of the diameter of the top. When a first layer of these hampers are arranged tightly together in staggered rows, another layer of hampers can be placed on top by resting the bottoms of the hampers of the top layer across the edges of three adjacent hampers of the bottom layer. Because the bottom of the hampers is only about half as large as the top, the bottoms will set upon the tops without crushing fruit projecting out of the top of the bottom layer of hampers.
A large number of hampers, bushel baskets, and similar type containers, are used on farms for harvesting crops; and it is a necessary requirement that these containers nest into each other in order that they can be stored and transported economically. One of the problems which occurs with such containers is that they become locked when they are nested; and they sometimes have to be pried apart. Containers that become locked together may cause delays in dropping individual containers off of wagons at spaced locations, so that the equipment has to be stopped and started. Such delays are annoying, costly, and produce unnecessary wear and tear on the equipment.
An object of the present invention is the provision of a new and improved container which is nestable and is nonlocking.
Another object of the present invention is the provision of a new and improved container of the above described type which can be made of a flexible plastic and still not bulge appreciably under heavy loads.
A further object of the invention is the provision of a new and improved container of the above described type which does not contain sharp edges which will damage the fruit.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention relates from the following description of several preferred embodiments which are described with reference to the accompanying drawings.